Formed in 1956, the Boogie Kings originally consisted of teenage Cajun swamp pop musicians from Eunice, LA, including Doug Charles (real name Doug Ardoin), Skip Stewart (also known as Skip Morris, real name Maurice Guillory), Bert Miller, and Harris Miller. Shortly after the band was organized, it zoomed into popularity.

In the mid-1960s the Boogie Kings came under the leadership of trumpeter Ned Theall, a Cajun from Abbeville, who changed the group from swamp pop to its trademark “blue-eyed soul” sound. The revamped Boogie Kings, now containing up to a dozen members, toured heavily throughout the United States, appearing in Las Vegas and backing big-name artists on stage and in the studio. The band’s membership has varied considerably over the decades, and at one time or another included Clint West (Clint Guillory), Tommy McLain, G.G. Shinn, Jerry Jackson (Jerry LaCroix), Duane Yates, and Gary Walker.

With the onset of the British sound in the late 1960’s, The Boogie Kings band found they could no longer work full time as musicians any longer, so would only perform at several “Boogie Kings Reunions” after that. However, in the mid-1990s the Boogie Kings returned to the swamp pop sound, which it celebrated on the regional favorite “I Love That Swamp Pop Music” (1993). A swamp pop tribute album followed, Swamp Boogie Blues, which featured cameo vocals by several swamp pop pioneers, as well as Wayne Toups’ accordion work. Today the group often plays at Gulf Coast casinos, still under Theall’s leadership.